Yesterday was opening day of Quinn and Karen Hatfield’s new restaurant The Sycamore Kitchen. I love Hatfield’s so was eager to try their new spot, especially Karen Hatfield’s baked goods!
The space is sleek and rustic with exposed brick and wood tables, very minimal and clean. It is easy to miss when driving down La Brea so look for the patio out front and the colorful metal grated fencing.
I decided on a selection of four pastries and was delighted by each.
My favorite of the four was the lemon polenta pound cake. The pound cake was moist throughout with a pleasant grittiness from the polenta, gave it great texture. It was light with subtle citrus notes. Loved it!
Isn’t a good scone so good? Not chewy, not dense, just wonderfully light yet crisp. That is how this scone was. Must be the buttermilk. The sour cherries were gooey soft and tart and the scone had a slightly sugar coated crust. All around delish.
I want anything with plum. Really. It love plums. The plum crostata was an obvious choice for me. I really enjoyed the crust of this crostata. It was perfectly baked and uber flaky. The addition of toasted almonds on top made everything even better. BUT was there pear in this crostata? I think there was. I tried to call and confirm but no answer. Nevertheless it tasted like pear not plum. So sad.
The blueberry almond financier was so almondy, sticky and super sweet. A perfect little cake. Simple and delicious.
I can’t wait to visit again and try some more sweetness like the brown butter date mini bundt cakes or the salted caramel babka.
Anna
June 28, 2012Yum! I would go for the lemon polenta cake. Too bad about the pear… hmmm.. maybe working out the kinks?
Elliott
June 28, 2012WOW! I had no idea!! I’m psyched to check it out…
Diana
June 30, 2012I didn’t know it was open already!!! So excited to check it out… I adore Karen Hatfield’s desserts and can’t even imagine what she does with pastries! Thanks for the thorough recap, lady. I’m going to be all over those mini date bundts!
Gastronomer
July 2, 2012I’ve always been a fan of Karen’s desserts. Can’t wait to taste her simple but satisfying selection at Sycamore 🙂